The Cross-Section of Insurrection

Sometimes I think we imagine God as a bloodthirsty warmonger out to kill His enemies; his most important goal to crush open rebellion. At least, this is the picture I get from the Old Testament. He commands the Sons of Israel to kill the pagans. He threatens the Sons of Israel with plagues, slavery and other horrors if they do not obey Him.

And it is a completely accurate description. God's justice remains perfect even if we don't think our sin is a big deal. He gives us exactly what we deserve. But we are missing a big, hugely important aspect of God if we think He is most furious with the pagans and their open rebellion. Angry, yes, but I think we can conclude from Exodus 1-4 is that what really gets Him is the behavior of His so-called "friends." Moses, for example, does not seem to have any particular vices--sure, He killed an Egyptian out of indignant, just rage for the treatment of his people, but you could hardly call that entirely evil. But, boy, does Moses get under the Lord's skin.

God provides richly for Moses from birth. An undeniably divinely scripted event, Moses is plucked out of the Nile and saved from Pharaoh's daughter herself when Pharaoh commanded the death of the Sons of Israel. A boy who should have been drowned in that river gained ownership of it, as well as all of Egypt. Again, when Moses was chased out of Egypt for murder, God protected him, and gave him a wife and family to accompany him in the wilderness (2:19-22).

As if Moses' blessed life was not up to this point proof of God's care for him and purpose for him, the Lord actually visits Moses in the wilderness, a miraculous burning bush that does not burn up. He then speaks to Moses, and grants Moses the power of miracles to go and free the people of Israel. What an amazing gift of confidence and caring. You might say, "Yeah, but God was putting Moses up to doing His dirty work." Let's not forget that Moses ran from Egypt because he KILLED A MAN for mistreating an Israelite. He is clearly passionate about the well-being of God's people. God is not demanding of Moses his time, He is granting him his dream!

But Moses argues. God, I can't do this, he says; I'm not a good public speaker (4:10). God's response to him is essentially, "I made you, and I can help you speak" (4:11-12). If I were God, I would have said, "Dude, I just turned your wooden staff into a living snake. I think I can help you not to stutter." Yet Moses persists. Basically, he says, send someone else (4:13). Verse 14 says God is pretty upset with Moses, yet relents and tells Moses to meet up with Aaron, who will be his mouthpiece.

We could attribute Moses' disobedience to abject fear, but I don't think so. Look at 4:24. "...at a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death." Who is "him"? If we look at verse 23, the "him" is Moses! My study bible confirms that God was trying to kill Moses. Read on. In verse 25, Moses' wife circumcises his son and the Lord apparently relents. What was going on, here? Well, Moses was not following God's commandment to the Israelites in Genesis 17:10--to uphold the covenant by circumcising their sons. My study bible suggests that perhaps Moses' wife, Zipporah, didn't like the idea of circumcision, so Moses obeyed her instead. Whatever the reason, Moses disobeyed a direct commandment and ignored God to the last.

What I am seeing is a pattern of laziness, an uncaring heart and hesitation to place faith in God. What Moses is essentially avoiding is sacrifice: if he goes back to Egypt, his life is on the line. If he circumcises his son, his marriage is on the line. Even when shown unquestionable miracles, Moses continues to... well... not care. He doesn't want the hard work, the danger, and the sacrifice that comes with being a servant of God. And it really pisses God off.

Can you sense the irony? We constantly complain about God's decisions with humankind, the state of the world, the starving children in Africa, the unsaved. Yet when the rubber hits the road and God calls us to action, we hesitate. Will I lose friends? Will I be hated? Will I be in danger? We seem to care, to be passionate, yet there is no sobriety, and no willingness for personal sacrifice and pain.

So your dream is to see people saved to Jesus Christ, to please God, to help others, to be an example of love? Be careful what you wish for, because God may actually call you to those things. And when He does, if you back out because of a noncommittal, weak heart, it will anger Him. How else could he feel? He's being stabbed in the back by the one's He's blessed. Instead, we should be willing to risk everything for Him, and trust that His purpose is good. Has He not proved this to us over the centuries? Has he not paid for us with the murder of his only son?

I am just as convicted and guilty of these blasphemies as anyone, if not more.